Stuck in the Condor with you
by Madame Lady
Summary: The Storm Hawks lose power and are trapped in the Condor on an uncharted Terra for an entire day, without distraction. Will they fall victim to the unknown Terra, or worse...will they survive Finn's lame jokes? Piper's POV. No intended pairings. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, there! This right here is my very first Storm Hawks fanfic, and my first ever fanfic in a long time, so critiques are much appreciated.

Thanks goes out to Missdedodakes and my Mom for beta reading.

Here's chapter one, I hope you enjoy!

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_BEEEP. BEEEP._

As the Condor's wake-up alarm blared, I sleepily rolled over and stretched, groaning a little. Yesterday's combat flight training had been a bit rough. Forcing myself to wake up, I threw off my covers and stood up. After a quick change from pajamas to my usual uniform, I headed for the bathroom, hoping to get there before the boys. No one likes to wait for the bathroom early in the morning, and if it came to a race, it was every Storm Hawk for themselves.

Luckily, I found it unoccupied. I usually did if I got up when the alarm went off, since Finn and Junko take so long to get out of bed. Aerrow, however, was another story. I don't know how he can get dressed and ready so quickly, and how he can be so bright and awake that early. If I ever skip getting dressed before leaving my room, there's always a race between the two of us. I even managed to win, once, but only because someone had left a wrench in the hallway that missed Aerrow's attention. It wasn't often that he tripped up, so I almost stopped... almost. That bathroom was MINE.

Today, I could see that Aerrow had already been here. He always leaves his toothbrush on the sink. Every morning, I put it away.

It really used to bother me how much I've always had to clean up after the guys(excluding Stork, he seems to clean up after himself pretty well), and I had let them know. Loudly. Finn had protested, saying that if I didn't like it, then I should just leave things the way they were. After all, we all had to get things back out anyway. Junko and Aerrow had apologized, and finally convinced Finn to take up some of the tidying up too. But, once there was nothing left for me to do, I actually ended up missing it. Yeah, I had to put up with Finn's gloating for a while, and I had to go back to doing most of the chores, but it was worth it. Besides, now I'm the Choresmistress, and I get to bestow the honor of mopping up the hangar or scrubbing the toilet to whomever I deem worthy, namely Finn. It feels good to have that kind of power.

I washed up, checking my face for any blemishes. I'd never hear the end of it if I walked around with a pimple on my face all day. Finn would point and laugh or make jokes about it, and Stork would probably say I had some sort of deadly, contagious illness and should be checked for it. I'd rather go without that kind of humiliation, thank you.

Sometimes it's hard being the only girl on a ship full of boys, but I'd much rather hang with them than a bunch of girls. Yeah, it's nice to have some girl friends, and have some girl time, but I don't think I could stand putting up with girly girls all the time. Make-up, fussing over hair, talking about guys... I live with a bunch of guys, I just don't see what the big deal is talking about them. And the emotional stuff... going through that myself is enough, I don't need to experience that from anyone else.

Hearing a knock on the door, I finished up and opened the door. Yep, Junko. If it had been blondie, I would've heard a lot more whining.

"All yours, Junko." I said, exiting the bathroom.

"Yeah, thanks," the wallop replied hurriedly, wasting no time in taking it for himself. He had probably been waiting outside for a while. Junko doesn't usually knock, or rush anyone out, unless he really has to go. He's such a big sweetie.

Smiling, I walked into the main room. Stork was there, a wall panel on the floor, messing with some pipes and wiring. I didn't ask, since he was probably just fixing something or looking for parasitic fireworm stowaways or whatever. If it ended up being important, he would tell us.

"'Morning, Stork," I greeted as I walked past.

The merb mumbled something to himself before waving to me distractedly, not looking up. "Good morning, Piper," he said, in his usual 'hurried and worried' tone.

Stork is always up who knows how long before the alarm sounds off, and always the last one to sleep at night. I'm not an expert on merbs, so I don't know if they don't require as much sleep, but I can't help but wonder if maybe extra sleep would do him some good. It could be one of the reasons Stork is so weird sometimes.

I entered the kitchen and found Aerrow, already making himself some breakfast.

"Hey Piper," he said cheerfully. "Sleep well last night?"

"After yesterday? Of course!" I smiled, reminding him about the vigorous training he had put us through all day.

"Still giving me a hard time about it, huh?"

"Just preparing you. Finn will be up soon."

"Ah, he'll be fine,"

I sliced up some bread and popped it into the toaster. "Just like you said he'd be fine helping Stork repair his skimmer for the hundredth time? We all know how _that_ ended."

"That was different," Aerrow argued.

I giggled. Stork gets annoyed when Finn wrecks his skimmer, which happens often, but having Finn as his sidekick grease-monkey had not gone well.

I thought about the plan for the day. We had needed somewhere to land the Condor for the night, and I had found a relatively uncharted Terra, one that was on the map, but little was known about it. So, I figured we could do a little exploring and look for some supplies before taking off again. When you're the tactical expert of a skyknight squadron, you learn quickly that when you have an opportunity to restock on anything, you take it, because you never know when you'll be stranded somewhere, wishing that you had more food, water, crystals, or air fresheners.

"I'm so hungry I could eat an entire skyshark!" Junko walked into the kitchen happily. "Well, that is, if I weren't allergic to them,"

"Hey, Junko," Aerrow grinned. "how're ya feeling?"

"Kinda sore," the wallop replied, shrugging. "but I'm okay." Junko opened the refrigerator, looking through its contents.

My toast was done now, so I grabbed the two slices and buttered them. Munching down my breakfast, I watched with interest as Junko prepared his. The big guy had pulled some really odd-looking things out of the 'fridge, and was now stuffing them into the blender. One of the great things about Junko is that he'll eat just about anything. Prickly sea plums? Doesn't bother him. Leftovers from a week ago? Bring 'um on! Saves me from having to clean out the 'fridge every couple months.

The blender was mixing the not-quite-so-appetizing items into a green, blue, and yellow sludge when we heard a sudden bang, then felt a power surge rock the Condor. Junko's eyes widened just before the blender exploded and the colorful goop plastered his face. The lights glowed brighter for a few seconds, then all the power went out, and the tremors ceased.

"What was that?" I gasped.

"I...don't know," Aerrow looked at me and shook his head, shrugging.

"Did I NOT just tell you not to touch it?" We heard Stork's voice growl in the main room. Aerrow and I shared a look before exiting the kitchen. Yep, we had a pretty good idea of what had happened. All the same, we went to check it out, for either damage control or to see if we could help with anything.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know what you meant!"

In the main room we found Stork hovering over a cowering Finn like a dark cloud of doom, exercising his trademark eye twitch. Finn lay on the ground, his face, shoulders, and chest looking charred, hair blown back. The place in the wall where Stork had been working earlier was charred black as well, smoke rising from it.

"You know full well what I meant!" Stork hissed. "Now we're stuck here with no power, the Condor needs repairing, and who knows what kind of horrors we might encounter on this Terra! We don't know who, or _what,_" he shuddered, "lives here. Without power, there's no way to defend ourselves from any number of horrible fates. For all we know, you've just doomed us all!"

As much as I wanted to believe that Stork was just being overdramatic again, he did have a point. This was not a good place for the ship's defense systems to be down.

"Calm down, Stork," Aerrow jumped in to Finn's defense, helping the blonde teen up. "Whatever just happened, do you think you can fix it?"

The merb returned to his workplace, waving the smoke away, inspecting the damage. "That seems to be our only hope right now, doesn't it?" he muttered darkly.

Junko joined us, licking his fingers, traces of his breakfast still lingering on his face. "What's goin' on, guys?"

"Impending doom is what's 'going on'," Stork answered, picking up a wrench from the floor. "I was just putting the finishing touches on an upgrade for the Condor's security system, something I've been working on all night, when _Finn_" he said with emphasis, glaring pointedly, "decided he would rather put us all in danger than to listen to me when I told him not to mess with anything!"

"Oh," Junko blinked, looking somewhat confused. "But, why would you do that, Finn?"

"I didn't know what it would do!" Finn whined. "Stork should've told me!"

Rolling his eyes, Stork ignored him. A few moments later, he spoke up again. "Now, this might work, and we'll have power again, but if it doesn't...well, just be ready for anything."

We nodded, taking a few steps back.

There was a deep whirring noise throughout the ship, followed by clicking, lights flickering on and off...then everything was back to normal.

"Yeah!" "Whoo-hoo!" "Go Stork!" we all cheered, and the merb relaxed a little. Our happiness was short-lived, however, because we were cut off by a warning alarm, flashing red lights, and the sounds of metal slamming on metal. Jumping, we looked for the cause, and soon found out. All the doors and windows were being closed off by thick, sliding slabs of metal.

I looked over at a panicked Stork, who was back at the wall, hurriedly working at something. Just before the big front window was halfway closed off, everything stopped.

"Everyone okay?" Aerrow asked, and everyone gave a wary thumbs-up.

By the restricted light coming from the window, I saw the unsure faces of my teammates. "...Stork?" I inquired, my voice squeaking a little.

"I was afraid of that," Stork said, leaning against the wall. "My new security features kicked in. But, since everything was fried from before, when I tried to turn it off, it shorted out and drained us of all power."

"So, what now?" asked Junko. "Do you need me to break those walls down?"

"No need, I hope," Stork answered. "if everything works like I programmed it to, we just have to wait until the engine crystals fully recharge, then the system will reset itself."

Okay, no big deal, right? "How long will that take?" I asked.

"Anywhere between 10 to 30 hours," Stork predicted, cringing.

"Aww, man!" Finn groaned. "And the kitchen's closed off now! I didn't even get to have any breakfast!"

"If you had just gone to eat breakfast instead of bothering me in the first place, none of this would've happened," Stork retorted.

Never being one to like watching friends argue, Junko jumped into the conversation. "Hey, at least the bathroom wasn't closed off," he pointed out optimistically, gesturing towards the open bathroom door.

We all nodded in agreement. That was _definitely_ a good thing.

Then we heard scratching from the other side of the closed off hallway, followed by screeching.

"Radarr!" Aerrow hurried to where he heard his copilot. "Radarr, you okay, buddy?"

The scratching stopped, and we heard the little guy let out a short, affirmative squawk. Poor thing...he usually lays around in bed for a while before getting up, unless something big is going down. As jumpy as he is, Radarr probably freaked out the moment before.

"Junko," Aerrow called. "Y'think you could bust this open for me?"

"Sure," the wallop replied easily, punching on his knucklebusters. But, before he could move toward the metal wall, Stork stepped in front of him.

"You...might not want to do that," he cautioned. "the way I set this up, any excessive force applied to those walls will send a shock to the attacker. There may not be any power for anything else, but trying to break it down could trigger what little the engine crystals have recharged already...and that, plus the energy from the crystals in your knucklebusters, could prove painful, if not _deadly_..."

Ignoring Stork's forboding tone, Aerrow turned to me. "You wouldn't happen to have any blocking crystals on you, would you?"

"No such luck," I answered. "The few I made after they exploded last time are in my room, and I didn't think I'd have to grab anything this morning."

The redhead sighed, then spoke through the wall to Radarr again. "Will you be alright by yourself in there?"

There was a small, pitiful whine, then silence.

"Look, guys, it's not that bad," Finn piped up. "All we have to do is wait it out, right? We've been through worse. It can't be that tough putting up with each other for hours without distraction...after all, I can be pretty entertaining."

"We're doomed." Stork croaked pessimistically.

So, we were trapped in the Condor on a potentially dangerous Terra with no power...It sounded bleak, but Finn had to be right. It couldn't be that bad...could it?


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Y'all are awesome. But, before this starts, I just have one thing to say...

_PHEAR MY ITALICS._

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Okay, maybe it could be that hard.

"Then the talon says to Snipe, 'That's not Ravess, that's last night's leftovers'!"

Groan.

"Ba-dump tish!" Finn added for emphasis, motioning in the air as if playing the drums, grinning. "Eh, eh? Pretty good, huh?"

"Give it a rest, Finn," I shifted from lying down to an upright sitting position. "_please_. You've been cracking lame jokes for hours now. Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own annoying voice?"

"No, I don't, actually," he turned his nose up haughtily. "Come on, I'm givin' you all my best stuff!"

"Oh, that's sad," Stork remarked dryly from where he sat, picking the dirt from under his fingernails for the tenth time today.

"Hey, I don't see any of you breaking the silence,"

"That's because we _like_ the silence," I reminded him.

"Y'know what? Fine," Finn said, moving to a corner away from us. "have your precious silence. I'm done trying to get some fun goin'. You're on your own."

"Finally,"

Even Aerrow breathed a small sigh of relief from his post at the wall separating him from Radarr. I couldn't hear anything from the other side, but I'm sure his copilot was relieved too.

Junko, sitting a few feet to my right, arms resting on pulled up knees, looked like he was about to say something, but didn't. Knowing how good a buddy he is with Finn, I guessed he wanted to make him feel better, but couldn't find anything to say. Instantly, I felt bad for being so hard on Finn. The more I thought over what I had just said, the more I realized how mean I sounded. None of us particularly cared for his jokes, and we let him know, but when things are said in the heat of the moment, or when we're busy, it's easier to write things off as just stress talking. With this silence, it was hard _not_ to think about an insult and what the person really meant by it during a moment when there was all the time in the world to think about what they said. I hadn't meant to really upset Finn, but I couldn't just apologize now. Well, I could've, but it would've been weird.

Suddenly, I didn't like the silence anymore. It felt awkward. I didn't like that I had had the last word, and that it had been unkind, but mostly because it was directed towards someone I called a friend.

Apparently feeling that same awkwardness, Junko spoke up a few moments later. "Maybe we should do something," he suggested. "y'know, besides just sitting here."

Finn, still sulking, just grunted.

"Maybe we could do some exercises, do some more training?" Aerrow put in.

I was glad for conversation, but I wasn't too fond of the idea. "We should probably rest today," I told him. "I think we're all still sore from yesterday."

Normally, this would be the time when Finn would back me up and go on and on about how much hurtin' he was doing, but right now he didn't even look up. Mentally, I cringed. Had I really made him that upset?

"Come on," Aerrow urged. "no pain, no gain. What doesn't kill you---"

"...Only makes you stronger. Yeah, we know." Finn interrupted, finishing his sentence. "Maybe if you stopped trying to kill us for a minute, you'd realize that we don't want to be dead."

Ouch. Now he was turning on Aerrow, too?

The skyknight blinked, surprised. Heck, we were all surprised. Our wingman had never spoken to Aerrow like that before, with such venom and spite. "I didn't know you felt that strongly about it,"

"Yeah, well, we like training and all, but you just take it too far sometimes, dude,"

Feeling defensive, Aerrow shot back, "I'm sorry for trying to help all of you become a better and well-prepared team, then."

"What, we're not good enough for you? You think you have to fix us?"

"That's not what I said! You don't need fixing, I just wanted to see all of you being the best that you could be!"

"Oh, and to do that, you think beating us at everything and making us suffer will help?"

"You make it sound like I purposely make you miserable," Aerrow said incredulously.

"Could you keep it down?" Stork broke in drearily. "Your bickering is giving me a migraine,"

"And what's your problem?" Finn asked, turning his attention to the Condor's pilot.

"What's _my_ problem?" Stork repeated. "You have no right to be complaining. You're the one who put us in this situation."

"I've been thinking about that," Finn pointed an accusing finger, "and y'know what? You're the one who set up the stupid security system in the first place. If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have messed with anything, and we'd be outta here by now!"

"Now it's my fault? My fault for having everyone in mind, for working all night to make sure we're prepared for an attack from the horrors of the unknown?"

"'Having everyone in mind', yeah, right. You only care about you and your safety and your precious Condor!"

"_I'm_ the self-centered one?" Stork said in disbelief. "Do you know how many times I've risked my life for you? For all of you? I didn't have to join the Storm Hawks, I should be dead hundreds of times over, according to the odds. _You're_ the one who only thinks about himself!"

Finn, Stork, and Aerrow were standing now, fists clenched, getting up in each others' faces, carried by the momentum of their anger. I joined in standing too, attempting to calm them down. "Fighting like this isn't solving anything," I started, but Finn cut me off.

"Oh, all right, I'll just do what you say, Piper," Finn shot back sarcastically. "since you're the nag of the group, I'd better listen, huh?"

Oh no he didn't.

"_What_ did you just call me?" I asked, all sympathy I had for him suddenly gone. He was not going to get away with calling me a NAG. "I hope you didn't just call me what I thought you called me."

Accusations continued to fly from his mouth, now directed towards me. "Oh, I did," he said with satisfaction. "Know-it-all."

"Well, you know what? _Someone_ has to tell you what to do, or you end up doing something stupid and getting into trouble!"

"You always think you know best. 'Oh, everyone had better do what I say and make me happy, 'cause I'm the giiiiirl. Everything I say _has_ to be right,'" he mocked me in a fake girly tone, motioning daintily with his hands.

In the background, I faintly heard Aerrow and Stork arguing about attitudes and dangerous missions, and I saw Junko stand up out of the corner of my eye and say something, but I was too mad to pay attention. "Shut up, Finn!"

"'Shut up, Finn'," he repeated, continuing to mock me. "What're you gonna do, nag me to death?"

"STOP IT!" Junko bellowed over all of us.

We stopped, shocked. Junko _never_ gets angry or shouts at us. Ashamed, I realized that I hadn't noticed how upset he was getting. Of all of us he's the last to argue, insult, or place blame. The wallop looked frustrated, almost on the verge of tears.

"We're supposed to be friends," he looked at all of us, "we shouldn't be fighting like this!"

"I'm sorry, Junko," I started, but he cut me off.

"Don't apologize to me, Piper," he said, calming down a little. "apologize to Finn."

Taking a deep breath I turned to Finn, my eyes downcast. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you earlier, but I had to say something. You would've gone on forever if I hadn't spoken up."

I looked up and saw that Finn was wearing the same berated look on his face that I was. "I guess I just don't know when to stop sometimes," he mumbled. "And I'm sorry I said all that to you guys...But, y'know...it's kinda true."

Aerrow stepped forward, rubbing his neck. "Looks like we all have stuff we'd like to get off our chests,"

"Yeah, I guess so," I admitted. "And, as corny as it sounds, I think we all need to sit down and discuss what's bothering us." I prepared myself for another awkward silence, or at least a couple psychologist or group therapy jokes, but neither came. Instead I received a couple nods, and a couple 'here-we-go' sighs, then we all sat back down. "Finn," I said, "since you seemed to have the most to say, you can go first."

Finn looked down at his hands, which were resting in his lap. "I just...I make jokes and stuff 'cause I wanna hear you laugh. Sometimes it's just because I want you to notice me, or because I think up the most perfect thing to say in the moment, but other times I just want you guys to be happy." His head lifted and his eyes searched ours. "Am I really that annoying?"

Wow. I was expecting more complaints, not a heartfelt confession. I thought about his question...Was he? He definitely could be annoying sometimes, but overall, he wasn't that bad. It certainly hadn't occurred to me that maybe he was annoying for a reason. I had always written it off as Finn wanting more attention, but now I looked in his eyes and guessed there was something behind that egotistical joker personality. Did he think that we didn't really care about him, that we only kept him around for his sharpshooting skill? Maybe he joked around to add something to his worth.

"Yes, Finn, you are," Stork answered sarcastically.

"No, you're not," I reassured, shooting a glare at Stork.

Aerrow nodded. "I mean, if you joke around too much it gets annoying,"

"But...there are times when we really need those funny moments," I admitted, finishing Aerrow's idea. "Without them, we'd end up taking things too seriously. They help us stay calm in scary situations." I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees. "You do make us happy, but in other ways, too. You may act full of yourself sometimes, but I know you care about us."

"And you're our friend," Junko finished. "even if you were really annoying, we'd still like you,"

Finn smiled a little. "Thanks, guys," he said. Then his smile broke out into a hopeful grin. "So, does that mean you wanna hear my joke about the Dark Ace?"

"Ehh, no," we all answered.

Aerrow added, "Maybe another time,"

Finn shrugged. "Fine by me. But now you'll have to wonder...When will Finn strike next?" he struck a dramatic pose. "Who knows when I'll drop the joke? Just wait, it'll be when you least expect it..."

"Ooh, we're all in suspense," Stork rolled his eyes.

"If that's how you feel," I crossed my arms, "maybe you would like to go next, Stork."

The merb blinked. All eyes now on him, he shook his head. "No, I don't have anything to say." He looked around, deciding to place attention on someone else. "Aerrow can go next."

Aerrow began to protest, but I interrupted. "No, I know you have something to say. You were arguing, too,"

Getting that panicky look about him, Stork shook his head again. "No, no, no, I don't want---"

"Stork..."

"I said no!" he shouted in his shaky voice. "If you want me to talk, here's something to start with: stop pressuring me!"

Now we were getting somewhere.

"I'm always doing things I don't want to do!" he clenched his fists. "Do you think I _enjoy_ risking my life on a regular basis? You don't know what it's like to be able to calculate the exact odds of our survival in any situation! You've no idea how lucky we've been so far!"

Well, that explained a lot of the paranoia.

"I do a lot for you people and a lot of the time I'm never thanked for it, or given the recognition. That alone I could live with, but time and time again you're always telling me what to do and ignoring my warnings or advice. Then, on top of all that, living like this is stressful and I don't want to shorten my lifespan with _stress-related illnesses!_" Stork gasped, having put a lot of force behind his last sentence.

"...Good," I managed. "That wasn't that hard, was it?"

Stork gave me a dull look.

"I've apologized before about not listening to you," Aerrow reminded him.

"Only when the horrible things I warned you about actually _happened_," the merb countered. "You're constantly blowing me off or ignoring me, all of you."

"Well, you do have a tendency to exaggerate, Stork," I said.

"I can't help it," he argued. "that's how we merbs are! If there's a even a somewhat-likely chance you could meet your demise in a grisly, sickening way, I'm going to tell you for your own safety."

"Dude, thanks for your concern," Finn told him, "but would it hurt to show a little optimism every once in a while?"

Stork sighed. "Optimism is a lie, Finn. Only good for morale. It may work for all of you, but I don't buy into it unless there's a good reason." Then, staring at the floor, he lowered his voice and added, "The more careful you are, the less likely those you care about will meet an...untimely end."

In the brief silence that followed, I wondered what he meant by that. Did he really worry about us that much? I guess if I knew the chances all my friends had of living or dying in our regular day-to-day adventures, rather than clinging to my hope that everything would turn out fine, then I'd be worried, too. I was starting to get a better picture of how Stork thinks, and why he does what he does. Something was bothering me, though, something in the back of my mind. Stork isn't the most open with his feelings of friendship, yet he had just said he cared about us. "The more careful you are, the less likely those you care about will meet an untimely end". He's usually pretty detailed with his what-ifs, but this one seemed different.

I wondered what his family life was like before we all met. None of us had really gone into detail with each other about our pasts, but we knew that we had all lost our parents, our families, in one way or another. Maybe he wasn't just talking about us...

"Okay, well, I'm sorry," Aerrow broke into my thoughts, apologizing to Stork. "We'll try to listen to you more often, right guys?"

We all nodded our agreement. "We're sorry, Stork."

"But, you know," Aerrow continued, "we're the Storm Hawks. We're always going to be in dangerous situations and there will always be times where we have to take chances, you know that. It's what we do. You can't just look at the bad things that could happen, because then you might give up. Aren't the chances of survival lower if you give up from lack of hope?"

"Dismally lower," Stork replied darkly, "but someone has to be the cautious one."

"Fair enough," the skyknight accepted. "We just...worry about you sometimes."

After a pause, Junko commented, "There's a lot of worrying going on,"

Finn agreed. "Yeah, I guess so. Did you have anything you wanted to say, buddy?"

"Uh, not really," Junko shrugged. "I'm pretty happy with everything, besides you guys fighting,"

"There's gotta be _something_," I urged. "Isn't there anything you're not completely happy with?"

Looking down, the wallop thought for a moment. Junko is a happy, easygoing guy. It wouldn't be too surprising to find out that he had no complaints, but everyone has _something_. I don't think about it too often, but he really is one-of-a-kind. Most wallops are just big, quick-tempered fighters, but not our Junko. He's the sweetest, kindest wallop we've ever met, probably in the whole atmos!

"Well," he said hesitantly, "Finn...Sometimes you're a little pushy." Seeing Finn's reaction, he added quickly, "I know you're not trying to be mean or anything, but sometimes you remind me of the guys back home who always pushed me around and I don't want to think of you that way. You're my friend."

Thinking this over, Finn nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll try to work on that. I'm just glad you're not mad at me for telling Aerrow that you still sleep with a teddy bear..."

Junko's jaw dropped, and the blonde quickly covered his mouth. Aerrow held back snickering and from the other side of the metal wall, we could hear Radarr making squawking laughter noises. "Finn!" Junko whined, "You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"It was only Aerrow!"

"Well, now everyone knows!"

"Look, it's okay," I reassured him, his lip quivering a little. "I still sleep with my stuffed dog sometimes, too. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But you're a girl," Finn pointed out. "No one would care if you slept with a ton of stuffed animals,"

"Finn, you're not helping." I put my hands on my hips. Then, I realized what he had just said. "Wait a minute...Are you saying that because I'm a girl, you'd _expect_ me to need a security toy? You don't think girls can be every bit as tough as guys?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Finn raised his hands in defense.

"How _did_ you mean it?"

"All I was saying was that girls can get away with it and guys can't..."

Aerrow laughed, finding the situation humorous for some reason. "You're digging yourself into a hole, Finn,"

"And why's that, hmm? I don't understand why guys have to---"

Before I could say anything more, he interrupted me. "See, this is what I was talking about! You always think you're right!"

I blinked. I hadn't expected the sudden change of subject. Running through the conversation in my head, I put myself in Finn's place and was a little shocked to realize how obnoxious I sounded. Did I really sound like this? "I...I'm just using the freedom of speech and opinion," I said lamely.

"You abuse the privilege," Finn accused.

"Careful, those are some big words," Stork commented.

I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped, not really knowing what to say at this point, mind drawing a blank. Then, I managed, "Do all of you think that?"

When no one answered, we sat in awkward silence again, avoiding eye contact. Once again, I broke that silence. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We didn't want to make you mad, or hurt your feelings," Aerrow said, rubbing his neck.

How long had they felt like this? Man, how long have any of us had these feelings of anger or annoyance towards each other? I guess it was bound to happen, each with our own different personalities. And, I guess, all friends fight at one point or another, it just happens. It's never pretty, but real friends work it out. It's what we were doing now. "Well," I sighed, "I'm sorry I made myself so unapproachable on this. And I'm sorry for being a 'know-it-all', but really...I do know quite a bit. Maybe some appreciation for saving your butts with the things I've learned would be nice."

All in agreement and apologies swapped, we then turned to Aerrow. "What about you, dude?" Finn prompted.

His answer ready, Aerrow launched right in. "I don't have anything worth arguing about. If there's anything that annoys me, I try to forget it and move on. You guys are a great team, awesome friends, and I'm glad to have you with me. If there's something you want to talk to me about, anything you're not happy with, then go right ahead. We'll work something out. But, personally, I have no complaints. Thank you," he said, smiling warmly as he looked over his squadron, "all of you."

It was a feel-good moment. If we weren't content before, we were now. I was about to do some thanking, too, when Finn jumped up and ruined the moment.

"No, thank _you_, Aerrow," he grinned, taking a bow. "I'd also like to thank everyone here, the Condor, and my dashing good looks and incredible skills..." We groaned. "Without all of you little people, I wouldn't be where I am today." He sniffed, wiping away an imaginary tear. "I'm just so...touched."

"In the head," Stork added, his sardonic wit ever at the ready.

As we all laughed, I thought about how happy I was. With my life, my friends, being part of the Storm Hawks...and the future, as far off as it seemed at the moment. It renewed my desire to bring down the cyclonians and to bring a better life to everyone in the atmos. Sounds kinda cheesy, huh? Well, it was a huge goal, but I was ready to go for it.

_SCREECH!_

Merriment cut short, we jumped, our attention snapping to the big front window that was still halfway shut off by a slab of metal. There was a giant, furry head looking in at us, sharp teeth bared, making terrifying screams. A big fist came into view and it began pounding on the glass.

"What _is_ that thing!?" As Finn shouted over the beast's screeching, we prepared ourselves to deal with this newfound complication.

That's what _I'd_ like to know.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed! Man, this chapter seems so short...Sorry. I only expected to do about four chapters, but there's still a ways to go before I'm finished with this 'fic. I just keep adding more and more things as I go that I think would work. So, I'm guessing there'll end up being around six or seven, but don't count on anything.

The Biscuit Shack idea came from Biscuit World, a place my family and I visited in Texas one time. xD Names of food suggested by my sisters, and cool people on the forums here. Thanks, guys!

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"Find a weapon!" Aerrow shouted over the horrible screeching.

We looked about the room frantically, searching for anything that could be used to defend ourselves. My eyes roved wildly from one thing to the next, but there really wasn't much. Nothing that came apart from the ship or that could do much damage, anyway. All of our weapons and crystals were in the other rooms that we were closed off from.

_BANG. BANG. BANG. _The Condor shook under the force of the creature's exertions.

"How 'bout this?" Junko called, popping his head out of the bathroom, toilet scrubber in hand.

"Ew," we all chorused in unison.

Junko shrugged. "Sorry,"

_BANG. BANG._

The cracks in the front window grew larger with each pound and the screams grew louder, becoming almost torturous to listen to. I heard Radarr's muffled screeches add to the noise, though his were scared and confused. Panicking, I looked to my teammates, hoping they had some idea of what to do. Unfortunately, they all looked just about as lost as I was.

_BANG. BANG. BANG._

"What do we do?" I cried, starting to freak out a little. Oh, man, this was not good. How were we supposed to fight this thing? We were trapped in this room without a means of defense and this giant monster was coming in after us.

Stork, who had looked the most distressed of all of us, suddenly looked oddly calm...calm for him, that is. "We don't do anything," he answered.

"_What?_"

"Didn't we just talk about not giving up hope, Stork?" Finn shouted, eyes glued to the beast.

The merb shook his head, "No, that's not it---"

_CRASH!_

The window finally gave way and the huge fist reached inside. Needless to say, we backed away as far as we could. With this new opening, the creature pushed hard and chunks of glass started flying everywhere. Looking closer, I wondered if it could squeeze past the metal, as big as it was...Wait, that was it!

A sudden jolt of energy went through the monster and it stopped screaming for a moment, looking shocked...er, no pun intended. Roaring with pain, it attacked a second time, but again received a shock from the crystal-powered walls. This continued a few more times before, howling in frustration, the beast halted its onslaught. Then it stood there, glaring at us, releasing a guttural growl. None of us daring to move, we just stared back, hoping it would lose interest and leave.

In this moment I tried to get a better idea of what this thing looked like. The most obvious feature was its size. It had to be at least 25 feet in height, since it must've been standing on the runway to the hangar to look at us through the window. How it had managed to climb up there without anyone noticing, I had no idea. Judging from what I saw, its arms were oddly long. It was covered with dark fur that had a bit of a blue tint to it, and no visible ears or nostrils.

Another startling feature were the teeth, sharp teeth that protruded far enough out of its skull so that its jaws were perpetually slack. Because of this, we could easily smell its breath...not a good thing.

And its eyes were chillingly black, making it impossible to tell what exactly it was focusing on. I wasn't sure if its pupils were just huge or what, but black was all I could see.

After what seemed like hours, it finally broke off its intense stare and swaggered away, then leapt off the Condor with surprising agility and balance, hardly disturbing the carrier at all. We breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll ask again: what _was_ that thing?" Finn asked.

"A native to the Terra, apparently," Stork said, still looking shaken up. "What, specifically, I don't know."

"Whatever it is," I declared, composure returning, "I hope that's the last we'll see of it,"

OoO

"Knock, knock,"

Sigh. "Who's there?"

"Terra,"

"Terra who?"

"Terra Atmosia, represent! Whoo!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry, Finn, but that has got to be the dumbest knock-knock joke I've ever heard."

"I know," Finn sighed. "but I'm running out of material. How long have we been in here, anyway?"

Stork turned to face Finn from his post at the window, sure that if he left it, the monster would sneak up on us again. There really wasn't much he could do if it did, but I guessed it made him feel better to be aware ahead of time. "Roughly twelve hours," he said. It was evening, getting dark.

"Ugh," Finn grunted. "This recharge thing is taking _forever_. Didn't you say it could be done in ten?"

"Yes, well, the keyword there is 'could'. Since that thing attacked, the recharge has to make up what it lost while defending us."

Finn groaned. "Man...I'm so hungry." He looked at us wearily. "If it comes to cannibalism, I vote we eat Stork."

"Finn!"

"I'm just sayin'...It'd be a lot less depressing,"

Now it was Stork's turn to roll his eyes. "I think I liked it better when you were playing 'I spy'," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Fine," ignoring the merb's obvious annoyance, Finn continued the game. "I spy..."

"Let's not start that again," Aerrow suggested.

"Stork says he likes it,"

"Sarcasm," Stork glared.

"Yeah, something we would all be happier with less of,"

"Something _you'd_ be happier with less of,"

"Shut _up_," I grumbled, curled up in a corner. We had all argued with each other enough that day, one more complaint didn't hurt.

For some reason, Junko took that as an invitation to start informing us on how hungry he was. "I'm so starving...I wish we were trapped in Aunt Groda's Biscuit Shack...you can get anything on a biscuit there,"

"Even Borkian hen?" Finn asked, eyes wide with awe.

"Oh, yeah," Junko nodded. "tastes just like chicken."

We heard Radarr's muffled reply in the form of a surprised squawk, but the guys just ignored him.

"And pinta berries, and flame sauce..."

"How about sky shark steak?" Aerrow asked, joining in the wishful conversation.

"Sure," the wallop replied. "Oh, and _graaaavy,_" he said, dragging out the word as if he could taste it by doing so.

The three groaned longingly. "Like a gravy, biscuit Sky Mac..." Finn drooled.

"Oh, come on, you guys!" I scolded, my own stomach growling painfully. "It's only been half a day! Going that long without food won't kill you,"

"Maybe not, but it sure doesn't feel good." Junko pointed out.

The guys continued their growing list of food they were desperate for, so, I joined Stork at the window out of boredom. "What'cha thinking about?" I questioned, not really having anything else to say.

"Not much," he replied. "just calculating the odds of my survival in the event I were to throw myself out of this hole and subject myself to the horrors of this Terra."

Taking this as a Stork-joke, I played along. "How's it looking?"

"Not good. Taking into account the vicious, hostile monster living here, and the probability of others like it, I can easily guess I'd find myself dead within a few hours." He smiled darkly. "And yet, that course of action seems almost preferable to our current position."

I giggled. "You always know just what to say to make a situation seem worse than it is."

"Do I?" he wondered aloud. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment, if nothing else."

We stood there a while longer, staring out the window. It felt silly thinking about something so obvious, but I mulled over how different things look through cracked and broken glass. Instead of a normal view, everything looks weird and shattered. Kinda like disturbing the water in a puddle and the odd reflection that comes from it.

"Sky wings..."

"...Flamecorn..."

"And I could really go for some flying tacos right now..."

Momentarily distracted from my musings, I tried to ignore the ongoing verbal wishlist. I wanted to try bringing up some conversation, but we all had pretty much worn out all the topics we could think of an hour ago. Then I remembered something from earlier, something I had been wondering about.

"Hey, Stork?"

The merb twitched a little in surprise, evidently not expecting to be disturbed from his thoughts.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Well, you just did, but..." he shrugged.

"Well," I started hesitantly. "um... what were your parents like?"

Stork blinked, then looked me over, wearing an expression close to suspicion. "Why?"

"I'm just...curious,"

He stared at me for a moment longer, then turned back to the window. He stood there for a while, silent, until I started to think that maybe he wouldn't answer, but then he sighed and said, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Great, Piper, you managed to create that awkward silence again. If you keep this up, you could go pro! Mentally kicking myself, I left him to his thoughts and rejoined the three on the floor.

"What about you, Piper?" Aerrow asked, inviting me into their conversation. "What sounds good to you right now?"

A big dose of let's-get-outta-here. "An outdoor Tropican buffet?" I offered.

"Oh _yeah_,"

"Mmm,"

"_Totally._ That sounds so good..."

A big hit, apparently. Though I smiled, inwardly I was still dying to know more about these people that I called friends. Sure, I knew a lot about all of them, but nothing deeper than what we had shared just a few hours earlier. I wanted to _really_ get to know them...

And there were things I really wanted them to know about me, too.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks, as always, to everyone out there reading and reviewing. Please, don't be afraid to throw some criticism my way. I can take it.

Also, there was a little moment in the last chapter that was kinda hinting at something, something I'll refer back to later. Cookies and sugary goodness to anyone who spots it. There's some hints to stuff in here, too, so look out. Nothing to go Where's Waldo over, but yeah. Something to think about.

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_Oof!_ Finn hit the floor.

"Oww," he whined, lifting himself up into a sitting position.

Aerrow helped him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," came the grumbling reply.

"Sorry, Finn," Aerrow shrugged. "but you would've been more prepared for that, had you practiced."

It was pretty dark out now, but we had found an extra raw crystal that now illuminated the room. Aerrow had spotted the glow from underneath a control panel. What it was doing there, and not in my room, the world may never know.

The two boys were practicing hand-to-hand combat and the skyknight had just thrown the sharpshooter to the floor. They had been at this for a while now and Finn still hadn't won a single round. I could tell he was starting to get frustrated, but I didn't say anything. I knew how proud he could be.

Stork was still at his place by the window, staring staring out into the Terra. He hadn't said much since I talked to him last. He had ignored any attempts Finn had made to bug him, until it came to the point he had to yell angrily at him to go away. It had killed what little party the boys had going, so Finn had to shake it off and make more jokes to start it up again. Since then, we had all been a little worried about the merb and the fun died down again. So, Aerrow finally convinced Finn to do some training.

I felt guilty. The guys must have figured that Stork was just getting tired of constant company, and that might've been part of it, but I was sure that it was my question from earlier that had him acting like this. I only asked about his parents and it wasn't even in front of anyone else. Why would it be that big of a deal?

As the two started another round, I moved over to where Junko was sitting, wearing an expression of boredom much like mine. "Hi,"

"Hey, Piper," he greeted me. "what's up?"

"Not much. Just bored."

"Yeah, me too," he nodded in agreement.

We sat there for a bit, watching Aerrow kick an increasingly annoyed Finn's butt. Suddenly, Junko's face brightened, and he looked at me.

"You wanna play a game?" he asked.

Glad for something to do, I nodded. "Sure,"

Excited, he moved so that he was facing me, both of us sitting cross-legged. Clasping his hands together, he grinned and said, "Okay, you use mostly your hands for this game, but you can do pretty much anything. One person makes up something, like a clap," He clapped once in demonstration. "and the other person has to copy what the first person did, then they both do this," he lifted his right arm to about face-level and paused.

Realizing he was waiting for me to do the same, I followed suit. Then, he bumped his arm against mine. "Then you do the same with your other arm," We dropped our right arms and repeated the motion with our left. "Then you bring both arms down and ball up your fists and growl." I felt silly as I did so, but it was a strangely good feeling. Somehow, it seemed like I had seen this game played before...

"Then," he continued, "the other person gets to make up something and adds it to the first thing."

"Like a snap?" I asked, snapping my fingers.

"Yeah!" He snapped his fingers in response. "Then add the clap." We both clapped, bumped arms and growled, though I found it kinda hard to growl while giggling. "You got it!" he said, "And after that, we just keep taking turns adding things until..." he trailed off. "Um, well, this game usually ends with fighting, on Wallop. Wallops aren't the most patient people out there,"

"I guess we'll just stop when we feel like it," I suggested.

Junko nodded. "Okay!"

We continued this game, growing faster and louder with each round, motions becoming more and more wild and crazy. We almost stopped a few times, laughing as hard as we were at some of the gestures or faces that were made, especially since the shadows made the expressions more exaggerated. I was really getting into it, so I didn't notice how much interest we were generating from the others.

Then, I slipped up. I made the bug-your-eyes-out and pull-your-ears face instead of flapping my arms like a chicken and we both collapsed on the floor, laughing like idiots. It really shouldn't have been that funny, but after today it was just too hilarious. We needed it.

"It's finally happened," Stork's voice broke through our madness. "they've come down with Hazzarian laughing fever. Take cover, their heads should explode any moment now."

"You're just jealous," Finn waved him away, he and Aerrow having stopped their combat practice sometime during our game. He sat down next to us, hands on his knees. "C'mon guys, teach me how to play!"

Getting hold of ourselves, our laughter subsided. "Okay," Junko wiped tears from his eyes and turned to face the blonde. "Here's how the game goes..."

As the wallop explained to an eager Finn, Aerrow sat down next to me. "Having fun, I see," he commented, grinning.

"What's that look for?" I asked, still giggling a little.

"Nothing," the skyknight replied deviously.

"What?" I shoved him lightly.

"You just looked really funny, that's all." he laughed.

"Oh yeah?" I retorted, though I really didn't have a comeback prepared, "Well...you look funny all the time!" Then, to top off the mindlessness of it all, I poked him.

"I do not!" Aerrow argued, poking me back.

And that's when the poking war began. I returned fire and attempted to escape retaliation, but I was shot down. A stray poke misfired and hit Finn, who was too absorbed in the game with Junko to protect himself. The civil war that ensued between the Storm Hawks lasted until all sides where exhausted and called a truce.

I almost couldn't believe I had actually joined in the guys' rowdiness, let alone _started_ it this time. Normally, I would've stood on the sidelines, making sure things didn't too wild...not that I could do much to stop it. Normally, my idea of fun had something to do with experimenting with my crystals, or thinking up a brilliant plan. Normally...well, I guess today wasn't normal, was it?

During the struggle, I had looked over at Stork, the neutral party, who had managed to dodge any attempts of attack through the whole thing. I'm sure he hadn't meant for anyone to see, but I caught the small smile he made...before complaining about how the noise we were making was sure to attract that monster again. I was glad to see that he had gone back to talking. Though he whines and complains and won't admit it, I know he likes being with us.

"I love you guys," Junko grinned after he had caught his breath. If we hadn't been sitting, he would've issued hugs all around.

Aerrow and I nodded in agreement, smiling. Finn, lying on his back, eyes closed, lifted a tired thumbs up in response.

Once it got quiet again, Aerrow spoke up. "So, what's the name of that game you guys were playing?" he asked Junko.

The wallop shrugged. "I don't remember. My mom taught it to me when I was really little. The only other person I ever played it with was my friend Menkie, and I taught it to him. Other kids who played it didn't really talk to me."

"I remember playing something like that when I was little, too," Aerrow said. "It was a bit different, though. We called it copy-copy, only it didn't have those arm bumps or the growling. I haven't played it since I was seven."

_That's_ why the game felt familiar! "Hey, yeah! I've seen other kids play copy-copy," I recalled.

"Hey, how come I never heard of it?" Finn whined. "Have you played it, Stork?"

"It's called 'repeat or doom', on Merb," Stork said, turning his head so we could see his creepy grin.

"Aw," the marksman groaned. "Everyone knows about it but me!"

"I guess your friends just never learned, either," I offered.

Finn moped, looking away from us. "Yeah, guess not."

"I didn't play it often," the redhead smiled. "me and my friends liked playing 'save the atmos' better,"

_Well, now you don't have to play it, Aerrow, _I thought._ You're living it._

"Most kids I knew liked playing smash," Junko said, and somehow I didn't think the rules to _that_ game were really complicated.

"Merbs aren't encouraged to make friends," I was a little surprised to hear Stork adding to the conversation without being asked. "because ya never know who'll end up horribly maimed or decapitated next, but myself and those that lived nearby, we used to play 'don't contract the deadly disease' when we weren't being taught how to avoid, prevent, or battle most of the disastrous occurrences on the Terra,"

Not 'encouraged to make friends'? That was something I didn't know about merbs, though it made sense now that I thought about it. In fact, there were a lot of things I didn't know about them. It was unsettling. You'd think I would've found a book on them by now, with all the reading I do. I could've asked Stork, but he's always been tight-lipped about his home Terra. The only things most people know about merbs are their appearance, their paranoia, and their ability to survive many of the thousands of natural disasters their Terra had to offer.

That might also explain why Stork had such a hard time getting used to all of us when we all met, and why he still has trouble being open or friendly a lot of the time. Those sorts of things are hard if you don't have much experience.

"What kinda games did you play, Finn?" Aerrow questioned.

He sat up quickly. "I, uh, didn't play games," he said, sounding suspiciously like he was making this up. "me and my buds, we were too cool for that." He smiled confidently. "Yeah, we caused all sorts of trouble..."

Junko's eyes widened. "Like what?" he asked, ready for a story.

Finn's confidence vanished, but only for a second. "Like the one time we snuck out and T.P.'d Mr. Jernon's place...that night was _awesome_," he smiled coolly. "Or when we pranked Skyler and his gang, and when we got caught makin' jokes about Overseer Frank-Nasty-Stank, and once we even---"

"Wait a minute, _overseer_?" I interrupted. "What, did you live near a prison or something?"

He paused. "Uh," Apparently, he hadn't meant to let that slip. "Not exactly...I kind of, uh," he rubbed his neck, looking away, "used to live in a home. Like, an orphanage."

His confession took me off-gaurd, in more ways than one.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "I'm used to caretakers. That's what they call them for the girls' division."

Finn blinked, surprised. "You used to live in a home, too?"

"Yeah, I lived in one until I was eight," I answered. "then I lived in a foster home with a couple other kids until I met you guys."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

This was a good question. Why hadn't I? For the same reason no one else had spoken up about their lives growing up, I guess. None of us wanted to be the first to say anything about it. "Hey, you never said anything either," I pointed out.

"But I thought girls were more open with that kinda stuff..."

I rolled my eyes. "You really like to generalize about girls, don't you?"

"Wait, so, they're not?" Aerrow asked.

"No..." I began, then shook my head. "Well, most of the time, but," Now I was confusing myself. I'll blame it on how late it was getting. I was tired. "...it's complicated." I finished.

"That's the one thing you can count on with girls, no matter where they're from," Stork put in. "it's _always_ complicated."

"And you know this _how?_" our skyknight grinned, crossing his legs.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Finn wasted no time getting in on the joke. "Stork's a ladies' merb! The biggest player in the atmos!"

"It's common knowledge about females," the pilot replied dully. "but I guess that's why neither of you knew, since you don't seem to have any sense."

"Aw, come on, Stork. We know you're just being defensive because we discovered your secret."

"Yeah, tell us more about your secret life. We wanna know how many girls you've dated,"

Before things got worse, I jumped in. "Hey, can we not talk about this?"

"Oh, right. Girl present."

Junko's yawn reminded us of how tired we were. It was definitely time to get some sleep. After restricting the crystal's light with a towel from the bathroom, we all settled down, Aerrow by the closed-off hallway entrance, Finn on the floor near some levers, myself in a corner, Junko next to a wall, and Stork...still at the window. Before I could say anything, a certain redhead beat me to it.

"Hey, Stork, when are you planning on getting some rest?"

"When we're off this Terra and relatively safe on another. I've seen smaller creatures out there that could fit through this hole, and---"

Aerrow stood up. "Look, I'm not gonna let you pull another all-nighter." He moved to where the merb was standing. "You need sleep. We'll take shifts watching out there in your place if that makes you feel better."

"But, but," he protested, but after seeing the look on Aerrow's face, he knew arguing wouldn't do a thing. Sighing, he complied. "We'll all be killed in the night." Stork stated gloomily, curling up beside a control panel.

"I'll take second watch," I offered, seeing that Aerrow was taking first.

"Third," Junko added.

"Hey, don't look at me," Finn mumbled sleepily.

"I don't trust you with a shift, anyway," the merb replied, yawning.

Before I allowed myself to drift off, I wanted to think over everything that had happened today. It was only this morning that the plan had been to search the Terra for supplies and start out for our next destination. This day had been a good example of the phrase 'things don't always go as planned'. Instead, everything had gone wrong and we were swept along on this emotional rollercoaster.

It wasn't all bad, though. I had learned a lot about my friends today, something that didn't happen often. There were still questions that hadn't been answered, but I hoped that after this it would be easier to talk to each other about these things. I especially wanted to talk to Finn---which was a _really_ odd feeling---since we had both had similar experiences with living in an orphanage. Maybe, with something to talk about, he'd be a lot more tolerable.

Just as I started giving in to my sleepiness, I heard something. Besides the stentorian snores coming from Finn, that is. It came from Junko's place at the wall. It sounded like...

"Junko," I whispered, "Junko, are you...crying?"

When he didn't answer, I crawled over to find out what was going on, ignoring the questioning look Aerrow was giving me. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"I'm fine," he sniffed.

"You don't sound like it."

"I'll be okay," I heard him move, and squinted to see that he was lifting his arm to wipe his eyes. "I was just thinkin' about my mom." he sniffed again. "I really miss her..."

"Oh," I sat back on my heels. How was I supposed to handle this? I didn't just want to leave him like that, but what could I say? I thought that maybe if he talked about it, he'd feel a little better, so I started asking questions. "Is she...um, dead?"

He nodded.

I never had a strong motherly influence in my life, but in that moment I guess the instinct kicked in. I sat down, back against the wall, gently lifted up his head and scooted closer, laying it down on my lap. "What was her name?" I asked as softly as I could.

"Nora,"

I ran my fingers through his hair, playing with the messy tufts. "What was she like?"

"She always told me that it was okay to be different." His sniffling started to die down. "I remember when the family came over to visit one time, uncle Lou said it was weird that I learned letters from my blocks instead of using them to fight my cousins with. That's what started the first brawl that day." He smiled a little. "She always stuck up for me and made me feel better."

"Sounds like she really loved you."

"Yeah. She did her best to take care of me, too. It wasn't easy, with Dad gone, but we did okay. Mom made sure to make up for him not being there."

Feeling my own eyes tear up, I took a deep breath to regain control. I almost couldn't imagine having a parent that loved me, then losing them like that. And while I felt bad for Junko, I couldn't help feeling sorry for myself, too. I had my own insecurities I had to deal with. Maybe I _couldn't_ handle knowing about everyone's pasts.

"She must've been amazing," I said, and Junko nodded a little.

In the silence that followed, I realized that Finn wasn't snoring anymore. I couldn't see him, but I wondered if we had woken him up. Then I remembered that Stork usually snores, too. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Aerrow was looking at me. When I turned to meet his eyes, he looked away quickly. Were they _all_ aware of the conversation that had just taken place?

Apparently, Junko couldn't feel my embarrassment, because I soon heard his breathing grow slower and deeper, then his snores filled the silence.

Deciding not to make a big deal out of it, for now, I let it go. Getting as comfortable as I could while sitting up, I closed my eyes and drifted off...

I don't know how long I had been asleep, but the next thing I knew, I was jolted awake by the sound of Aerrow's voice.

"Everyone up! We're being attacked!"

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Sorry I'm leaving you at another cliffhanger. Just as a warning, the next chapter may be a while in coming. This one gave me some difficulty, so I'm thinking the next won't be any easier. I guess I'll have chapter five finished in about a week or so, and everything will to come together...-evil laughter-

Thanks for reading and thank you for your patience!


	5. Chapter 5

...I lied. Sorry. Things don't totally come together in this chapter, mostly because the first half was totally unplanned until the idea struck. I apologize to any readers who are uncomfortable reading about blood, that's why I've changed the rating from K to T.

Thanks for waiting, I'm so slow. Durr...

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Forcing myself to wake up, I blinked hard, looking around the room. Junko sat up, releasing me to stand. Just as I began to focus to the once again crystal-lit room, a dark shape swooped into my vision. My eyes widened as I realized that something was flying around the room. It came towards me and I yelped with shock, ducking and covering my head. Finn's high-pitched scream sounded and I saw another, this one latched to his shoulder, flapping its wings and twisting madly.

There were several of these things in the room and more were coming in through the hole in the window.

I watched in dread as Aerrow swatted at one getting dangerously close to his head. Junko ran towards Finn and beat senseless the creature digging its claws into his buddy. Stork got over his initial horror and was now pulling levers, putting the hurt on those that came near enough to his traps, careful not to set off any crystal-powered ones.

"_Get off my ship!_" the merb shouted, a crazed look in his eyes.

I _so_ wished I had my energy staff right now. What was I supposed to do? I'll never be as strong as Junko, as prepared as Stork, or as fearless as Aerrow. I glanced at Finn, who was leaning against a wall for support. I was somewhat shocked to see a crimson color darkening his outfit where the creature had been. I stood rigid. We had gone on many dangerous missions and been through enough situations where any of us could've gotten badly hurt, but it was rare when someone actually did.

His scared blue-eyed stare met mine, and I knew he felt as helpless as I did. Finn was breathing hard, clutching his wound. Breaking visual contact, his eyes darted wildly from one thing to the next, and I realized that he was doing what I should've been doing: assessing the situation and trying to come up with some sort of solution. That's what he had looked to _me_ for, it was my job. And as fast as things were happening, I wasn't doing that job quickly enough.

In the few seconds I had taken to realize this, another one of the little monsters had targeted me and was now zeroing in. Amazing myself with how quickly I reacted, I dove to my left just before it would've hit me. It made a dull _clang_ as it made impact with the wall behind me, then slid to the floor.

Its appearance reminded me vaguely of the vulcabats we had encountered at the Black Gorge. They were about the same size, though they were covered in black feathers and had those same frighteningly black eyes the monster from before had stared us down with.

As Aerrow, Stork and Junko fought the winged monsters, shouting their battle cries, I noticed that some of them began to twitch or writhe _before_ being hit. Then I made the connection. The creatures hadn't made a single sound, and they didn't like the noise that the guys were making. Taking a chance, I screamed at the next one that came at me. It wigged out and changed direction, heading for Finn, who was still shocked into silence.

"Yell, Finn!"

The marksman's attention snapped towards me, then to the incoming attacker. He screamed, though more out of panic than actually listening to me, and it rolled in the air, almost hitting the ground before sloppily flying back outside.

"They hate the noise!" I yelled to the others. "Make as much noise as you can!"

Nodding to me briefly, everyone started shouting as loudly as they could. Adding my voice to the din, I clenched my fists in satisfaction as the creatures writhed in agony.

After the last one made it out through the window, we wearily slumped to the floor, Stork displaying an I-told-you-so look on his face for all to see.

Now that his adrenaline had worn off, Finn groaned, feeling the full effect of his wound. Junko was the first at his side, eyes wide.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly. I guess he hadn't realized how badly Finn had been hurt earlier.

"I'm just bleeding all over myself, no I'm not okay!" the blonde whined.

Not knowing what to do, the wallop just sat there looking guilty. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to rip it off you that hard..."

Crawling over, I put a hand on Junko's shoulder. "It's not your fault, you were just helping Finn. He'll be fine." I turned to the sharpshooter. "Finn, you're gonna have to take your shirt off."

I half-expected him to protest or make some stupid joke, but he didn't. Slowly and painfully, he lifted it off, grunting as he peeled the fabric off his shoulder. I inspected the wound, finding blood oozing out of several punctured areas. It looked like he had been clawed in six places on his shoulder and upper arm and bitten dangerously close to his neck. I'm not proud of my weak stomach, I had to turn away from Finn for a moment.

Junko couldn't even look. Stork occasionally glanced our way from standing at the window. Aerrow gave me a worried look.

"How's it look?" the skyknight asked.

It wasn't good, but I managed to keep a level head for Finn's sake. "It needs work."

"Well, duh!" Finn whined, beginning to panic again. "Do something!"

My mind raced. What did people do when this kinda thing happened? We didn't have bandages handy, but we had to stop the bleeding. When no one spoke up, I figured they didn't know what to do either.

I was wrong, however, because a moment later Stork took charge. "Junko, stand here and protect us from the terrors of the night," he ordered, motioning for the wallop to stand at the window. Turning, he motioned to the bathroom. "Aerrow, there are in-case-of-doom kits under the sink. The second to the left in the back row is the one we need. That, and a wet towel would be nice." The redhead gave a short nod and dashed to do the implied task. "Piper," the merb continued, "stay there. I'll need you in a minute. Finn..." he paused, giving the blonde a look. "calm down. The faster your heart rate is, the sooner you'll bleed to death."

As soon as Stork said this, Finn tensed up, forcing himself to take slow, deep breaths, and I knew his pulse wasn't slowing any. If anything, he'd probably pass out without proper oxygen intake. I almost smiled, thinking that if he did, it'd be a whole lot easier to work on his shoulder. Stork probably said that on purpose...or, that was just his way of trying to help, and he didn't know how else to say it.

As much as I liked to see Finn squirm under normal circumstances, right now it wasn't going to help. I tried to think of some way to reassure him, but as high-strung as he gets, I wasn't coming up with anything that would've worked coming from me. It was almost like trying to tell Junko that a visit to the dentist would be a good thing, or telling Stork that there's an upside to a mindworm attack.

Aerrow returned with a case and the towel and presented them to Stork. "This the right one?" he asked, looking at the case.

"Ah, yes." The merb took the kit and kneeled next to me at his patient's side, opening it. "Piper, take the wet towel and clean his shoulder." he instructed without looking up, washing his hands with a smelly liquid selected from the items in the case.

Aerrow tossed me the towel, and I looked at a cringing Finn. "Be gentle," he squeaked.

What, did he think I would rough him up after this? That I would be so low as to seek revenge on him _now_ for the stupid stuff he's done? I'm not heartless! Why, if I had half a mind to, I'd...oh, right. Wound.

Being as careful as I could, I laid the towel on his shoulder, trying to ignore his wincing and willing myself not to throw up all over him. At least he didn't whine or complain. After I soaked up the majority of the blood, Stork motioned for me to move away.

After doing so, I took a deep breath and let it out, sitting back. Stork took my place and inspected each puncture, before applying firm pressure to the wounds through the towel, causing the marksman to yelp in pain.

"Ow! That hurts!" Finn shied away.

"Of course it does," Stork replied, showing little sympathy. "and if you want me to properly treat you, you'll get over it and sit still."

Finn groaned and sat up straight again, closing his eyes tightly and biting his lip. Stork went back to work, disregarding the whimpers of his patient. When the bleeding died down, he grabbed a cloth he had prepared with the pungent-smelling liquid he had used to wash up with the moment before. The merb pressed it to the open wounds and Finn yelped again, pounding the floor with his fist in agony.

"Yes, it stings," Stork said in a weak attempt of comfort, "but it should kill whatever germs those creatures could've been carrying before they reach your bloodstream and infect you. I can tell you right now that on top of this, you don't want to fight some unknown disease. 'An unknown disease is very likely an incurable disease'," he finished, sounding like he was quoting some health manual. I figured it was probably a saying on Terra Merb or something.

"Yeah, yeah," Finn muttered through gritted teeth. "just hurry it up."

I didn't wanna see this anymore. It stung just watching. I looked over at Aerrow, who had been surveying the scene with an expression that looked like a mix between curiosity and worry. He acknowledged my gaze with a slight tilt of his head and a half-smile, one that I returned.

Then I checked to see how Junko was doing. His eyes were focused on the Terra outside, determined to do his part as best he could, but I could easily tell he was worried and upset by the way he flinched every time Finn cried out.

Thankfully, it didn't last long. Stork put the cloth back into the kit, and Finn sighed with relief. This relief, however, was short-lived, as the merb sifted through the items in the case to get something else.

"_Please_ tell me you're not going to put me through _more_ torture," the blonde groaned.

Stork pulled out a roll of thick medical tape, rolling his eyes. "No, not really. I'm just going to cover your mouth with this so _we_ don't have to go through any more torture," he replied sarcastically, unrolling the tape.

When he was finished dressing the wound, Stork put the remaining tape away and closed the emergency kit, but didn't put it away. Instead, he set it against the wall.

"That'll need to be changed every twelve hours," he stated. "Don't mess with it, and if you start feeling feverish, or if your shoulder feels numb, inflamed, or swelled like your head, it means you're infected. That, or it's all in your head. Either way, let me know as soon as possible."

Finn moved his shoulder up and down, testing it out. Satisfied, he shot Stork a grateful smile. "Thanks, man,"

"Yes, well," he twitched awkwardly, "don't thank me just yet. There's still a chance you could die from a terrible, crippling disease that escaped the degermification process,"

No 'you're welcome'? Stork never could take thank-yous very well. It's rare when anyone can find a moment where he's comfortable with any open display of friendship.

"Pff, after that pain-fest?" Finn waved him away, standing up. "No way. Woah, dizzy," He staggered a bit, falling against the wall.

"Uh, yeah," Stork pointed, "ya might wanna sit down for a while."

"Right," the sharpshooter said, sinking to the floor again, holding his head with one hand. "Y'know, I am _really_ tired,"

As soon as he said that, I realized just how tired I was. It had to be about three or four o'clock in the morning now. My bones began to ache and I felt my eyes burning.

"Me too," Aerrow yawned. We all were, now that we were at ease knowing Finn was all right.

I looked at Junko, who was looking relieved. "Hey, Junko, can you stay there a bit longer?" I asked. "I'm gonna soak this towel and Finn's shirt so the blood won't stain. After that I'll take my turn to watch." Junko nodded and I picked up the items. "Everyone else, you can go back to sleep."

Stork mumbled something to himself, but the other two laid back down without a hint of resistance.

When I had carried out my self-appointed task I reentered the room greeted by a duet of snoring...though Finn's part almost drowned out Aerrow's. The two of them had fallen asleep easily, despite the fact that the crystal was still lighting up the room. Smiling fondly, I walked over to Junko to relieve him of his post, but he lingered a while longer.

"Hey, uh, thanks for, y'know, ealier." the wallop said quietly, careful not to wake anyone, "Sorry I cried on you."

"Oh, yeah, no problem," I replied, rubbing my eyes and quickening my breathing to stay awake. Before Junko turned to leave, I spoke up again. "Where did you live before you met us?" I was curious and since he brought up the subject again, I thought I'd take the opportunity to ask.

"I lived with my aunt Eunice," he replied. "she never had any kids, so having me around was a learning experience, but she was nice." Junko smiled. "She was the one who gave me my knucklebusters."

I returned his smile, glad to know that at least he didn't have to go through any more traumatic experiences growing up, aside from losing his mom and being considered a nerd on his Terra. I didn't think he had, as happy as he turned out, but it was comforting to know.

Junko returned to his place by the wall and soon added to the snore-fest, converting the duet into a trio.

I stood there a while longer, doing my best to remain vigilant on a few hours' sleep. Just as I was beginning to worry about Stork's lack of snore participation, the merb stood with a sigh and stood next to me at the window, arms folded.

"There's no way I'm getting to sleep tonight," he stated resignedly.

"Have you slept at all yet?"

"Nope,"

"Didn't you say you were up all last night, though?"

"I was." Stork blinked, careful to avoid eye contact. "I don't need as much sleep as the rest of you. I won't go into details, but the way we merbs are built, we only need about four hours. It's an advantage, if anything,"

An advantage? Sure, having more time to do things like work with my crystals would be great, for a while, but I know I'd get pretty lonely being the only one awake on the Condor. I guessed he just liked the solitude, but then I remembered where he came from. Of course more waking hours would be beneficial. It meant having greater awareness of their surroundings.

"But you still need sleep," I pointed out.

"I've got a lot on my mind. I'll wait 'til we've landed on another Terra." he replied. "Besides, one or two sleepless nights only slightly increases the chances of death by internal problems in the long term. Being part of this squadron, I've pretty much calculated that my inevitable end will more likely be through other circumstances."

Well, that was Stork, I guess. "Do you ever look at the bright side of things?" I wondered aloud.

"Sure. Take for instance the fact that those three make it impossible to think straight with the noise they're making. At least they'll keep those winged monsters at bay."

There was a pause, then I thought of another question. "Since there's such a high risk of injury or death being part of the Storm Hawks, why did you join?"

"Because I love carriers," he answered, absent-mindedly rubbing the control panel before him. "I read a lot about them, and I always admired the Condor in the records. Aerrow had her, passed down from the original Storm Hawks, when I met him. I was only supposed to repair her, but after I did, I couldn't just leave. When Aerrow told me what he had planned for her, he said that if I could fly her, I could be her pilot, but only if I were to join his soon-to-be resurrected squadron. I really didn't want to, but, as you can see, I took the chance. I didn't think the risks would be as high if I never left the ship, but I guess I didn't realize what kind of team I would be dealing with."

As surprised as I was that Stork was revealing something like this about himself, I wasn't complaining.

"So, if you had it your way, you'd live safely in the Condor, alone and far from harm?"

"That's how I felt before, but..." He trailed off, suddenly remembering just how much he was saying out loud. Tensing up, his eyes darted from me to the window and back. "What I mean is, uh, well, I...it'd never happen," he recovered, "I'm doomed to fly for all of you until the day I meet my demise."

I smiled, but didn't argue. If he didn't want to admit it, I wouldn't push him.

Just then, we heard Finn's voice from behind us. "I didn't do it, I swear," he mumbled between snores.

Suppressing a giggle, I looked for some sort of reaction from my green friend. The corners of his mouth twitched in a slight hint of a smile, but that's all I got.

Both of us stood there quietly for a while, serenaded by the rhythmic snoring. After a moment, Stork began fidgeting. His head would start to turn my direction, but then it would snap back. He'd take a deep breath and hold it for a second, before letting it out and twitching some more. I knew he wanted to say something, but why he was stopping himself, I didn't know. I wanted to ask what was up and just get it over with, but I willed myself to be patient. Stork doesn't do well under pressure. If he had something to say, he'd get it out eventually.

I was right, and he soon spoke again. "You, uh...you remember that question you asked me earlier, about my parents?" His voice shook a little, more than it normally does. "Well, I figured that if you wanted to know, I, ah, guess I could tell you...that is, if you're still interested..."

Excited at this opportunity, I nodded, managing to contain myself. "Yeah, I'd like that." I said, giving him my best encouraging expression.

"Okay, um," he began nervously, "they were like any other parents on Merb, doing what they could to keep their family safe. I think the term you would use is 'overprotective'. But, they had to be. If a young merb strays too far, it spells certain doom." As he went on, his unease began to lift. "My family lived in the forty-second district, one of the safer areas, but like anywhere, it has its dangers. They worked at the Outbreaks, containing the bursts of _TUF_ gas and keeping the nearby districts from being covered in a cloud of destruction. Oddly enough, it was static fever that killed them. Ironic, huh?" he laughed weakly.

I didn't find it funny, and neither did he.

"What's static fever?"

"It's an deadly illness on Merb, contracted from the air and goes through the bloodstream for days, that shows no sign of inhabitance until it completely takes over and shuts down its host in a matter of minutes. Over half of the Outbreak workers died that week. Since then, a prevention from it has been discovered and it's now part of the annual mandatory health check, so it's no longer a huge threat, as far as we know."

So, he lost both of his parents at the same time, with little warning. More questions flooded my mind, but I tried to keep them at a minimum. "How old were you?"

"Ten years, five months and seven days." he replied, not missing a beat. Either he had made a point to remember his exact age on that day, or he had an incredible memory. Actually, the latter wouldn't be all that surprising. He's shown a vast amount of knowledge on several subjects...though, he _has_ forgotten things before. A few instances came to mind, but I didn't dwell on them. I was too busy absorbing all the information on his life he was freely giving me.

"Did you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No. It takes a brave pair of merbs to have more than one child. Merb infants are terrors." he grinned.

It was really strange for Stork to be showing this rare side of himself. He had made a joke that wasn't overly depressing or sarcastic and he was now talking comfortably about his past. He may not have been totally happy about it, but at least he wasn't any more tense than usual and he wasn't stammering nervously.

I grinned back. "Have you ever planned to have kids?"

"Planned? No. Had nightmares about it? Yes."

"They can't be _that_ bad," I giggled.

"Oh, but they are," he shuddered. "Besides, I was too involved with my apprenticeship in mechanics to pay much attention to girls. They're all insane anyway,"

"Hey!" I protested, defensive. "Just because we're different doesn't mean we're crazy!"

Stork rolled his eyes. "Fine. Girls are 'different', then. Either way, you're all still confusing."

"Whatever. So, you've never even thought about having a girlfriend?"

"Merbs don't date. That whole experience is far too trivial when your highest priority is staying alive and safe. We find someone we're compatible with and if we like each other, we marry. But...I can't say I haven't thought about it."

Stork jumped, petrified, when we heard giggling coming from Finn. We turned quickly, but the blonde was still asleep.

"Why yes, I _am_ rather attractive," He rolled over, snoring again, and I nearly lost it when I saw the goofy grin on his face. Stork, however, wasn't quite as amused.

Now jolted back to his usual demeanor, the merb twitched. "I'd rather you didn't tell anyone about our conversation just now."

"Alright," I agreed, "I won't tell them. But, I really think you should."

Eyes wide, he searched for an excuse. "No, no, I don't...I can't just..."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard," I argued, "you didn't have too much trouble telling me."

"But you're different! You're more mature than those three, you can handle these things better!"

"Okay, that may be true, but don't you think they deserve to know, too?"

"Um, no, not really."

"It's not like you have to come out and tell them," I persisted. "only if they ask."

"No, I don't like talking about it."

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Then why did you just tell _me_?"

"Because I needed to!" I was glad that Aerrow, Finn and Junko were deep sleepers tonight. We were getting kind of loud. "I've put all that behind me for years, and I needed someone else to know!"

I should've figured that out on my own. I knew what it was like to want someone to know something without having to actually say anything, avoiding the uncomfortable awkwardness. But, I hadn't taken the time to remember that. I really needed to work on having the patience to think through things before opening my mouth sometimes.

Not able think of anything to say after that, I was suddenly drained of argument. A pathetic "...Oh," was all I came up with.

Retreating once again into his twitching shell, Stork turned back to the window. "You can go to sleep now, if you want. I'll be awake here until we leave."

"O...Okay," I said, blinking. "Well, thanks for confiding in me,"

He paused, before replying quietly, "Thanks for listening."

----------------

Well. Odd place to leave you, but this chapter was getting a bit long, and the next bit will take a while. It'll probably be another week before I finish chapter six, sorry again for keeping you waiting.

Thank you all for reading, you're awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter is early! Yay for you!

Thanks goes to people. You know who you are.

--------------

"Still no power?"

I opened my eyes and blinked sleepily, awakened by the sound of Aerrow's voice.

"If there were, would we still be on this horrid Terra?" Stork's voice answered, sighing exhaustedly.

Sitting up, I rubbed my face, eyes focusing on my surroundings. A light morning sunshine poured in through the windows, illuminating the room. It felt a lot nicer than seeing by the dim light we had the night before, though there's nothing wrong with the beautiful glow of a crystal.

Aerrow sat across the room from me, running a hand through his bright red mop. He had just woken up, too, apparently. Junko's snoring had died down considerably, and Finn's had stopped completely, though he was breathing loudly, drool covering his face, and had somehow managed to twist his body into one of the oddest sleeping positions I had ever seen.

"Good morning, Piper." the skyknight smiled.

I returned the greeting. "'Morning."

Stork really hadn't moved much since last night, as far as I could tell. He looked stiff...but then, he usually does.

"How are ya holding up, Stork?" I inquired.

"I'd be better if I could check on those engine crystals," he grumped. "they should be done charging anytime now."

His irritation was mutual. I was tired of being in this room. I missed working with my crystals. My back hurt from sleeping on the floor, I just wanted to be alone in my room and sleep in my own bed. And, if that was how I felt, I knew it had to be worse for Stork.

After a still moment of quiet, Aerrow suddenly brightened. He stood and jogged to the bathroom, not doing a very good job of concealing a scheming grin. He emerged a few seconds later with a bottle of hair gel and a tube of toothpaste. I watched in mild surprise as he kneeled down next to Finn and motioned for me to join him, a mischievious expression plastered across his features.

"No, Aerrow," I warned.

"Come on, what could it hurt?"

"Um, his feelings?"

"This is _Finn_ we're talking about. He'll probably just be upset that _he_ didn't pull it off."

Ooh, how I wanted to do it. After he doodled in one of my experiment progress journals last week, it was incredibly tempting. Something told me that I shouldn't, that it would not end well, but my desire for revenge started winning out.

"Well..."

"It'll be fun! Besides, it's not like we're doing anything permanent," he rationalized. "Finn can wash it all off after he wakes up."

That was all I needed to convince myself that it was okay. I crawled over next to the redhead. "I'll take the toothpaste," I grinned. "you do his hair."

Stork surveyed the scene with interest. "Oh, that's brilliant." he muttered. He could pretend all he wanted to, but I was sure he found it amusing, or entertaining, at least.

Uncapping the toothpaste, I wondered what I'd do. Classic mustache and facial hair combo? 'Idiot' on his forehead? Full facial? I decided to wing it. I began with a few dots sprinkled all over his face, and one mistake near his eye gave me an idea.

When we finished, Aerrow and I inspected each other's work, covering our mouths to keep from laughing too hard. Aerrow had taken the front and sides of Finn's hair and made horns, and had pushed the back straight up and forward, curling under. I had given him goofy eyelashes, lined the outside of his lips, and made two big circles on his cheeks, all accompanied by pimplesque dots.

I fell onto my side, trying so hard to muffle my laughter, and Aerrow wasn't doing much better. Stork just smirked.

"Hey, guys," Junko yawned, waking up. "what's so funny?" His eyes widened when they fell upon what we had done to Finn, and his jaw dropped. His expression only fueled our mindless hilarity, and we both lost it.

Finn stirred, then blinked groggily, looking confused. "Huh?"

We laughed harder, clutching our stomachs. It wasn't that funny, but it was a relief from the boredom and drama we had been through. Soon, however, we realized that the price we would have to pay for this entertainment wasn't worth it.

The marksman lifted an arm and touched his face, smearing a bit of the toothpaste, then felt his hair. The look on his face changed from confusion to surprise, then to hurt, then anger. "You guys think this is real funny, huh?"

"Calm down, Finn, it's just a joke." Aerrow said, our amusement dying down to a chuckle.

"I'm not laughing!"

"Why not?" I asked. "This is the kind of thing you'd do."

"Only to bug you! I wouldn't do this to make fun of someone!" Finn shouted, and suddenly everything was quiet.

Aerrow blinked. "We didn't mean it like that..."

"How _did_ you mean it?"

"We were just bored, and---"

"Decided to take it out on me? Yeah, thanks." He stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door.

We shared a guilty, unsure look. Stork raised an eyebrow, and Junko just sat there, not knowing what to do. What was up with Finn? I had been afraid that he would be upset over this, but whining was the worst I expected from him. Instead, he had blown up at us. It's not like we did it to be mean...okay, I might've done it to get back at him a little, but I hadn't meant to hurt him or anything.

When he didn't come back out, Aerrow and I stood at the door.

Aerrow knocked lightly. "Uh, Finn, you okay?"

The door opened and the sharpshooter appeared, face red and tousled hair dripping wet, glaring at us.

We stepped back. "Hey, look, we're sorry," the skyknight began, but Finn interrupted.

"Mmhmm. Sure." He leaned against the doorway.

"We are!" Aerrow persisted, but he just continued his glare.

"Finn, you're being stupid." I told him. "He just apologized to you, what more do you want?"

"I don't wanna hear this from _you_," Finn shot back. "you were laughing just as hard as he was. I'll bet the whole thing was your idea, too."

"What makes you think that?" I squeaked indignantly.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you think so little of me."

"Finn, it was my idea," Aerrow broke in, speaking calmly, trying to cool us down. "Piper didn't even want to, but I convinced her that you'd be okay with it."

"Why would I be okay with it?" He straightened up. "Just because I always have to take all sorts of crap from you guys doesn't mean I like being made to look like an idiot!"

"Yeah, you're pretty good at doing that yourself," I spat. I shouldn't have added that, but he had me riled up again. Finn had the ability to do that to me easily.

"Well, maybe you should leave it to me, then!"

"Fine, I will!"

I turned to put as much distance between us as I could in this room, but stopped when he continued. "You know what? I have a hard time believing you grew up in an orphanage. You act way too spoiled."

Marching back up to him I pointed a finger in his face. "I could say the same thing about you, you...ungrateful, unappreciative, whiny _brat_!"

"_You're_ the brat!" Finn slapped my hand away and prodded my shoulder, causing me to step backwards in surprise, but only for a second. I shoved him back by his shoulders, and he yelped in pain. In my rage I had forgotten about his wound.

"That's enough, both of you!"

We halted, somewhat shocked. Aerrow had never had to use that kind of stern, reprimanding, angry tone with us before.

"If you would just stop for a second, you'd realize that you're _both_ being brats! Can you hear yourselves at all? We've only been here a day, and we'll only be here for a little while longer. Do you think you could have some self-control and put up with each other until then, at least?"

I looked away, ashamed. Finn, however, recovered quickly.

"Hey, who made you the dad? You're no older or more mature than any of the rest of us! Didn't you just say that it was you who thought up the 'lets make Finn look like a loser' party? Or were you just covering for Piper 'cause she's your girlfriend?"

Aerrow stiffened in surprise. "Wait a minute, girlfriend? Who told you _that_?"

"I don't need to be told," Finn crossed his arms. "anyone can see how you two act towards each other. It's always 'is it okay with you, Piper?' and 'whatever you want, Aerrow'," he mimicked. "it's almost sickening."

_What?_ My face felt warm with embarrassment, but I stood my ground and argued back before our skyknight could say anything. "We're friends who respect each other, Finn, that's all. And for good reasons." I put a hand on my hip. "I think you're just jealous of Aerrow because you can't act serious or do anything right!"

The look on the blonde's face told me that my last accusation had hit him hard. I took in the expressions of my teammates, Aerrow still looking surprised. Stork appeared awkward and uncomfortable, but said nothing. Junko was so upset that it almost hurt to look at him.

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped, wishing I hadn't said all that. I wanted to take it all back, or to just do the whole morning over differently. It was all I could do not to cover my face and hide in a corner for the rest of eternity, or at least kick myself in the head a couple times. Why couldn't I control myself? Why couldn't I be the calm one? If I hadn't gotten angry, if I had just let it go, Finn would've cooled off eventually and everything would be fine.

"It'll always be like this, won't it?" Finn blurted out bitterly. I started to apologize, but he ignored my effort. "I'll always have someone picking on me, beating me up or making me feel like crap. There will always be someone telling me what do to, and never anyone to back me up. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I guess not."

Junko started bawling into his hands, and I had to resist the urge to join him. "I'm sorry, Finn!" he cried. "I just don't know what to do! You're all my friends!"

Now it was Finn's turn to look ashamed. "I don't mean you, buddy. You never treat me like that."

"Hold on," I remembered, "last night, you made it sound like you and your 'crew' all but ran the home you lived in. What's this about being bullied?"

"Like you care," he muttered.

"Finn, I'm sorry." I said earnestly. "I do care about you. I just...can't help myself sometimes when you make me mad. If I didn't care, why would I get so upset?"

He thought about this for a moment, and Junko's tears subsided.

Finn sighed. "Okay, I guess I kinda lied to you guys. The friends I told you about, well, they weren't really friends. I made that up so I you wouldn't think I was a loser. That stuff I said we did, I never got to do. They never let me come along. I was just the annoying little skinny kid they thought was only useful as a punching bag or someone to blame things on."

"Didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"That only made things worse! The overseers didn't care, and I got beat up for being a tattletale."

"Why didn't you just tell us the truth?" Junko asked, looking hurt. "I would've understood."

"Yeah, well, you had it a lot better than I did," Finn said, looking down.

"How? There's no way your bullies were as tough as mine. Mine were wallops!"

"But you had someone who cared. My parents left me at the home because they didn't want me. Do you know what that did to me when I found out?"

I could imagine. Every kid who grows up in an orphanage wants to believe that their parents loved them. That anyone loved them. Finding out the truth is a huge thing, and many girls I knew while growing up never wanted to know. They would rather stick to whatever belief they made up, because it was easier that way. I hadn't been one of those girls. I had to know, whatever it was.

"Yeah," I almost croaked, choking on my emotions. "I know."

Finn turned to me. "...What about you?" he asked quietly.

I took a deep breath. "Mine told the home that they couldn't afford to keep me. I couldn't totally blame them, but I...I did some research, and they got out of debt and were financially stable a few years after they left me."

For a moment, we locked eyes. I had never felt this kind of connection to him before, sharing a common sympathy and brokenness. I had tasted it before, when he admitted where he had spent his childhood, but nothing this strong. It was a bit strange. But, it had felt really good to say it out loud, and I didn't have to tell him any more than that. He knew.

I broke eye contact when I felt tears welling up. I wiped them away, getting a hold of myself. "I'm sorry," I apologized again. "I shouldn't have said all those things to you. I get carried away, and it's hard to stop."

"Me too." Finn confessed.

Junko, turning on the water works again, came over and embraced us. I was glad at least one of us could cry. Nobody else would. Stork stood like a statue, again staring out the window. I didn't expect him to show any emotion over this, but I knew he had to be feeling something. Aerrow gave me a weak smile, and I returned it to reassure him that we'd be fine.

That was when the lights blinked on, and the Condor whirred back to life.

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What? Angst? Gasp, is it true? I know I said I didn't wanna get too angsty or anything, but this happened. xD Hope ya don't mind.

Just so you all know, the next chapter will be the last. Thanks to everyone who has been following this story this far. (Oh, and for those wondering, Aerrow's still getting a turn. It's not over yet.)


	7. Chapter 7

Here it is, the final chapter. Thanks goes to my mom, who is without a doubt the coolest woman ever.

'Food coma' is based on a true story. Jo, you're awesome. xD

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We were all taken by surprise, but Stork was the first to recover.

"Yes!" he exclaimed joyfully, hurrying to a control panel and flipping some switches. With a final pull of a lever the metal walls went up, leaving us free to traverse the Condor as we pleased.

Cheers and rejoicing ensued.

"FOOD!" Finn and Junko shouted in unison, tripping over themselves in their mad dash to the kitchen. Aerrow and I stayed for a moment longer.

"How long 'til the Condor is up and running?" Aerrow asked.

Stork stroked the controls, an almost blissful look on his face. "Just a little while longer. The engines need a little time to warm up before use."

"_Awesome,_" I grinned. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"Oh, yeah." the merb agreed, shuddering with relief. I could only imagine what kind of possible avoided horrible fates were running through his mind.

I turned towards the hallway to the kitchen. "Let's go join those two for breakfast while there's still something left." I suggested, only half-joking. I knew how huge their appetites were.

Aerrow smiled and nodded, following after me, but Stork stayed put, monitoring the now functioning gauges. I _really_ didn't want to argue with anyone anymore today, so I made a mental note to bring him back something in a bit.

When we entered the kitchen, an unexpected scene greeted us. Pots and pans, dishes and silverware scattered the floor and tables, probably from when the monster shook the Condor the day before. Junko stood at open cabinets, cramming down a bag of chips. Finn almost shut himself in the 'fridge. But that's not what surprised us. What was odd was that Radarr was fast asleep on the floor, surrounded by wrappers, hands resting on his bulging stomach...and half a piece of pizza hung out of his mouth.

"When did Radarr get in here?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Aerrow laughed, "but it sure looks like he's enjoying that food coma."

Junko and Finn turned and looked at the blue furball as if seeing him for the first time.

"Huh?"

"Ugh! Lucky!" Finn whined past a mouthful of...something. I really didn't wanna know at this point. "Why couldn't I be trapped with him?"

Aerrow kneeled down next to his dozing copilot and shook him lightly. "Hey, buddy, wake up. How'd you get in here?"

Radarr woke drowsily and pointed lazily to the ceiling. We looked up and found that the air duct that ran through the kitchen was dented and bent open enough to allow our little friend to squeeze past. Fortunately, it could easily be repaired by shoving it back into place and banging the dents back in place _a la_ Junko.

Finn's mouth dropped open, revealing what he was currently in the process of chewing. "So, we coulda gotten in here the whole time just by crawling through the ductwork?" he asked in disbelief. Radarr just sighed happily and started making wrapper-angels. "Aw,_ man!_"

While the marksman was distracted, I yanked open the refrigerator door, looking past him to see what was left. I was glad that our appliances ran on a separate crystal power source from the main system, so nothing melted or spoiled overnight. Knowing Finn, he would've eaten anything anyway and Stork starts freaking out if one of us gets sick. I liked to avoid sending the merb into hysterics whenever possible.

Quickly making a decision, I grabbed a cup of yogurt before the blonde could say anything. Then, I noticed the gallon of milk in Finn's hand. "I hope you're not gonna drink right out of that." I warned.

"Pff, I still don't see why it's a big deal," he rolled his eyes, uncapping the jug. "just don't tell Stork and it'll be fine."

"There's a reason he hates it when you do that. He doesn't want your germs or your backwash, and neither do I."

"Hey, I don't backwash!" Finn protested and pulled back as I made a grab for the milk. "Look, I'm wounded! I think I deserve to drink out of the bottle at least _once_."

I was about to mention that being hurt in a battle you didn't even fight in doesn't exactly earn you the right to have extra privileges, but I decided to just let it go. He could have it, it was only half full anyway, and there were a few more in the storage room 'fridge. But, I wouldn't let him get away with it for free.

"Okay, fine," I told him. "but you owe me."

"Yes!" Finn pumped his fist in victory, not thinking to ask why he owed _me_ for something bought with the squadron's money. Sometimes, I take him for granted.

When I finished scrounging for the rest of my breakfast and something for Stork, I returned to where we had left him. I offered him the food, and he accepted with a nod of thanks before returning his attention to the gauges.

"It's been an...interesting last twenty-four hours." he commented.

"Yeah." I agreed. Then I smiled. "Can you believe that Radarr made his way to the kitchen through the air ducts?"

Stork twitched. "He did?"

"Yep. If we had thought of doing it, one of us could've made it to the hangar and left to get help."

"I'd forgotten about those," He twitched again. "I'll have to rewire things so the security system locks them up, too."

"Why? If this ever happens again---"

"It won't, as long as no one interferes with its maintenance again. If we could go through the ductwork, an intruder could just as easily do the same."

I thought going that far was a little much, but I guessed it was better safe than sorry. Besides, if Stork thought it was necessary, it would probably come in handy for something sooner or later.

"So, what are we gonna do about the window?" I asked after a moment, suddenly wondering how the big hole would affect things. We could probably get in the air alright, but it would be difficult to get anywhere fast.

"Ah, right. I was going to ask if you would plot our next course to a repair station Terra."

I nodded. "I'll get on it." Turning to go get my maps, I heard a shout from the kitchen that sounded like '_food fight'_. "On second thought...maybe I'll go make sure the guys aren't destroying anything."

"Uh, yeah, that would be a good thing."

I went to head towards the kitchen, when something caught my eye. Wait, let me rephrase that. Something _terrifying_ caught my eye. Outside. I couldn't breathe a word. Stork caught the look of horror on my face and spun around quickly.

Behind us, the guys tumbled into the room, armed with whatever food was left from the kitchen, laughing. "Duh, I aim better than you!" Finn shouted, apparently planning to hit one of us with a handful of goop that looked kinda like old pudding, some of which was tangled up in his mess of hair. Things were instantly quiet when they realized what we were staring at.

That monster from yesterday was back. And it had friends.

The silence was broken when the creatures dashed toward us, their voices mingling together in a deafening scream. We sprang into action, scrambling for our weapons and leaving Stork at the controls, willing the gauges to show that the engines were fully operational.

I dashed from one room to the next. _Where had I left my staff?_ In my panic, I almost forgot that I had left it in my room.

_BANG!_

The monsters made impact with the ship and I was tossed to the floor, hearing the sickening sounds of shattering glass and bending metal. Picking myself up, I hurried to my room, using the wall as a support against the shaky onslaught. When I reached my destination, I quickly retrieved my weapon and headed back, driven by the need to stand with my friends.

I burst into the room, activating the striker crystal in my staff. Stork was moving from one panel of controls to another, setting off one defense mechanism after another, eyes wide and releasing a panicked cry or shout after each impact a monster made to the Condor. Finn struggled with his crossbow, his shoulder obviously giving him trouble. Aerrow and Junko were in the thick of it, punching and slashing, managing to keep the creatures from totally entering the ship. Radarr attacked a monster's arm, ripping out fur.

The screams seemed to grow louder, if that possible. Jumping into the fray, I whacked one of the giant hands coming after a distracted Finn, who was busy reloading. It recoiled from the shock and I earned a scared, grateful look from the marksman. Another arm reached blindly past the beasts closest to us, those that Aerrow and Junko were taking care of, and fell upon a panel of buttons and switches.

The disco ball came down, the Condor's horn went off, and the radio turned on, and we found ourselves fighting to the calming sounds of _Airborne_, one of the biggest bands in the atmos. Despite the situation, I laughed, and somehow I started gaining confidence. The guys followed suit, though Stork's sounded more like a nervous chuckle.

I struck the front of one of the monsters, helping Aerrow to keep it from getting any closer. I heard a _thud_ and Junko's grunt of exertion to my left, and turned for a moment to see that he had just stopped one from grabbing at me.

"Thanks!" I called over the screams. "Behind you!"

He swiveled around and delivered a hefty punch to an incoming attacker.

This went on for a few long minutes. Stork used one of his contraptions to keep Aerrow safe, Finn fired a shot to protect Junko, I caught Radarr when he was flung from the beast he had latched himself to, and so on.

"Come on!" Stork shouted worriedly at an indicator. "Just a little---yes!" The Condor's engine's roared to life, and he leapt to the controls.

"Keep going!" Aerrow instructed. "We'll be outta here soon, we've got to push these things off the ship!"

Our pilot struggled at the controls and the ship slowly lifted off the ground. We cheered him on, continuing our battle.

A few mighty blows from Junko later, the beasts fell back, jumping heavily to the ground. Stork pulled up hard, leaving them, and the Terra, in the dust.

OoO

I sat topside, relaxing for a moment and enjoying the breeze as it whipped through my hair.

After we cleaned up the glass mess, I had gone to assess the damage the guys had done to the kitchen. Summoning my choresmistress powers, I deemed Finn and Radarr responsible for cleaning up, with Junko and Aerrow as helpers. Finn had refused to take the bigger part, of course, but I reminded him that not too long before he indebted himself to me. Suddenly, half a gallon of milk wasn't worth it. But, it was too late.

I would've helped them with their task, but I had a course to plot out. When I finished and presented it to Stork, I had come up here to think.

"Hey, Piper."

I looked up to see Aerrow approaching me. "Hey," I returned, sitting back and propping myself up with my arms. "what's up?"

"We're finished with cleaning up, and since you're the best cook, we wanted to know if you'd come down and make lunch for us."

"Even Finn?" I smiled. "The way he was looking at me earlier, it seemed he would believe I'd poison him if I fed him anything."

"Well, actually, he did mention something about food poisoning," Aerrow laughed. "and Stork really didn't help things by listing off the different kinds that could possibly be cooked up in our kitchen, but I'm pretty sure he just wanted to mess with him."

"So, everything's back to normal again?"

"Pretty much." When I didn't get up, he came and sat down next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute. I've just been thinking about...everything."

"Ah."

After a pause, I spoke up again. "Y'know, I learned a lot about everyone yesterday and this morning, but not much about you. What was your life like before we met?"

Aerrow leaned back. "I lived with my grandparents, that is, my dad's parents, on Atmosia for as long as I can remember."

"What happened to your parents? I mean, I know your dad was the skyknight of the Storm Hawks before you, so...but, uh, what about your mom?"

"She was in the squadron, too. Grandma told me that she was always babysitting me while they were out on missions. They were killed when I was only a few years old, so I don't remember them, but...sometimes I really wish I could, y'know? I mean, Grandma and Grandpa did a great job, but I always wondered what it would've been like if they had lived."

I could understand that. "What were your grandparents like?"

"They were pretty awesome. Grandma was definitely the motherly type, but she was cool enough to know not to embarrass me. Grandpa was the skyknight of the Storm Hawks before my dad, since that privilege is in the bloodline. He still had the passion for being part of a squadron, even though he retired to let Dad take over, and he taught me a lot, about flying and fighting and everything. They were both the closest to parents you could get. I'm really lucky to have had them."

He _was_ lucky. I was happy that he didn't have a ton of issues, but at the same time I was really jealous. Out of all of us, he had the most perfect life. I guess it shouldn't have come as a surprise, though. He's pretty perfect at everything else he does. Yeah, we've had a few moments, but there are a lot of times when it's hard to really connect with him. I try hard and do my best to be something that he pulls off easily every day, and it can get kinda discouraging. But, I know he doesn't mean to make me feel that way and I'll probably never tell him that I do. He's a great friend, and that's all I can ask of him.

Listen to me, I sound like a selfish mess. I shouldn't be that envious just because I have a few insecurities. That's another thing I don't like about myself.

"I'm lucky to have you guys, too." Aerrow added. "I'm glad I have you to back me up."

"We'll always be here for you." I replied, hiding behind my smile.

Junko came bounding up, grinning sheepishly. "Hey, um, Stork sent me to ask if you two were gonna be out here all day. If you don't wanna make lunch, Finn's gonna try using the stove, and Stork's afraid he'll end up burning everything _but_ food."

"I'd better come then, huh? I'll be down soon, I just need a minute."

"Okay." Junko nodded.

"I'll go, too." Aerrow looked at me. "Is there anything you want me to start for you?"

"You could start boiling water in a big pot," I told him. "just make sure you keep Finn away from it."

"Got it." The skyknight beamed, then stood up and followed Junko downstairs.

Gazing out into the clouds, I thought over what Aerrow had said. We were all really lucky to be together. We may not all get along at times, but we don't always _have_ to. Our differences keep us at odds with each other, but they also strengthen us as a team and as friends.

And you know what? It doesn't matter where we came from, or what kind of past we had. I'll admit it, I strive to be better to prove myself. I joined the Storm Hawks because I didn't want to be a nothing or a nobody. I wanted to feel like I had some worth, and being able to show off my knowledge of crystals in a squadron seemed like the best way for me to go. I wonder now if that's kinda why Finn joined, if not for the adventure.

But now, I knew that I didn't need to prove anything to anyone. My friends are still my friends even when I totally mess up or lose my patience, though some may not come right out and say it, and that's really all I need. In fact, they were starting to feel more like family.

Family. That's what we are, and I didn't realize it until just then. I allowed a warm feeling to enter me, lifting my heart. It wasn't luck. Somehow, we were meant to be together.

How did a day stuck in the Condor do all this? I didn't know, but I was glad it did.

I hoisted myself up, ready to join everyone downstairs. We would have a lot ahead of us in the future, good and bad, but we'd get through it all as a team.

Together.

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an then tehy all diyed an piper went emo an cut herself an killd herslef a week l8r. ---Sorry, the ending was cheesy, and I couldn't help it. It's like finishing a marathon, with the feeling of victory and accomplishment, then stabbing yourself in the foot. Whoo!

Now that this fanfic is over, I'll be reading and reviewing other stories a lot more often. Also, I must direct you towards Ambrel, .PhaerynTao., Xibrei and other cool people's stuff. If you haven't read their 'fics yet, GO. NOW.

Writing this has been awesome. Before this, I didn't really have a whole lot of fanfic writing experience, but I think I'll continue writing. If you'd like to author-alert me, I'll be doing at least a few more oneshots. I have plans for four of them, and they'll be uploaded randomly. No one shall know when I'll strike next...

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. You guys are amazing. Hugs for all!


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